Trump Posts Doctored Meloni Meme Before NATO Summit
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- Donald Trump shared a manipulated image on Truth Social captioned 'restraining order needed' that altered Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's facial expression to make her appear enamoured, based on authentic G7 summit footage.
- The meme cropped out other leaders from the original G7 clip, in which European Council President Antonio Costa joked 'So you're friends again' and Meloni replied 'We have always been friends.'
- Italy refused to allow U.S. military aircraft carrying weapons for the Iran conflict to use a Sicilian airbase without parliamentary approval, triggering the escalation between Trump and Meloni.
- Trump told Italian television that Meloni 'begged' him for a photo and he obliged because he 'felt sorry for her'; Meloni called the claim 'completely fabricated,' stating 'Neither Italy nor I ever beg.'
- Trump's criticism of Pope Leo over the pontiff's condemnation of the war prompted Meloni to call the attack 'unacceptable,' deepening the rift between the once-close allies.
- Meloni, an early Trump supporter and the only European leader to attend his 2025 inauguration, has not publicly responded to his latest post ahead of this week's NATO summit in Turkey.
- An uncropped version of the doctored image had circulated on social media since the previous month, with visual details matching the original G7 footage apart from Meloni's altered face.
Why it matters: The feud threatens to derail face-to-face diplomacy at the NATO summit in Turkey, where Trump and Meloni are expected in the same room for the first time since their public falling-out. The dispute traces directly to Italy's parliamentary refusal to host U.S. weapons transit for the Iran conflict — a concrete policy clash, not just personal friction — and follows Trump's attack on Pope Leo, putting two pillars of his European base (Meloni and the Vatican) at odds with the White House simultaneously.
